Let the culling continue: Zynga shuts down four more mobile games

Just as promised, Zynga said goodbye to a number of its social games before the end of 2012. But according to TechCrunch, four of those previously doomed announced games live on mobile devices before Dec. 30, 2012. The sister site reports that Mafia Wars Shakedown, ForestVille, Zynga Japan's Mojitomo and Word Scramble Challenge were all pulled from app stores.

These four games join the soon-to-be defunct Zynga Japan's Montopia in the void where mobile games no longer exist ... or wherever they go when they're decommissioned. While sad, the news isn't terribly surprising: The majority of mobile games developed first by Zynga have historically performed poorly. And we're sure that games like ForestVille had just as dedicated fan bases as, say, PetVille (which was put on the chopping block on Dec. 30, 2012).

Even after 11 of the 13 games that Zynga promised it will shut down were closed, the company still has over 30 offerings. The reason for these shutterings was to cut costs likely in order to reinvest money and resources in better-performing games and in the creation of new games. No matter how large and infamous their creator, it's never easy to see widely-loved games simply cease to be. One can only hope this results in the creation of better games.

Are you sad to see any of these mobile Zynga games go? Which games will you move on to? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.